Combination piano and sound-reproducing instrument.



E; PLANTE.

COMBINATION PIANO AND SOUND REPRDDUCING INSTRUMENT;

Y APPLICAT ON FILED IIJNE 13,1916. 1,230,324. Patented June 19, 1917.

3 SHEETS-SHEET I.

I z..' -..-r --i I L fi II I I Q I 4% I l I \gjy I I I. 1 I 14: I I I I I I I I I I I l I 1. I

I l l I I I I I I wr unmus Pn'rns co. Pnamumm, wAsHlNcmm n. c,

E. PLANTE.

COMBlNATlON PIANO AND SOUND REPRODUCING INSTRUMENT. APPLICATION FILED JUNE 13. 1916.

1,230,324. Patented June 19, 1917.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

FM. 2; 29 7 N v Z0 ls Inventor EA PLANTE.

COMBINATION PIANO AND SOUND RE PRODUCING INSTRUMENT. APPLICATION FILED JUNE I3, 1916.

1,230,324. Patented June 19, 1917.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

E EAarmnrE, run R V R, MASSACHUSETTS. ASSIGNOR o MOND corn or Fe imvm, MASSACHUSETTS- .COMBINATIQIN PIANO AnnsoUND-nErnon crNe INSTRUMENT.

Specification of Letters Patent; Patented J ne 191 '7,

Application filed June 13, 1916. Serial No. 103,556.

To whom it may Be it known that I, ELZEAR PnAN'rE, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Fall Ri er, the coun y Br tol, n the State of Massachusetts, haveinvented an Improvement in Combination Pianos and Sound+Reproducing Instruments, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, isa specification, like characters on the drawings representing like parts.

This, invention has for its object to provide an upright piano with a sound replroe ducing instrument, which is normally lo; cated within the piano so as not to interfere with the functions of the latter, and forms a permanent part thereof, and has its tone arm or sound-delivering device arranged within the piano so that when in use, the outlet mouth of the tone arm is opposed to the non-metallic casing of the piano, whereby the sound-reproducing instrument is provided with a sounding board of large area and a superior-tone efl'ect free from metallic or harsh sounds is obtained. The soundreproducing instrument may be of any suitable or known construction, in Which atone arm carrying a needle or stylus cooperates with a record which is mounted on a movable support usually a circular disk, which may be driven by a motor of any suitable construction, such as an electric motor or a spring motor.

Provision is; made for enabling a recordcar-rying table or disk of maximum diameterto be located withina narrow chamber or space in the piano above the keyboard thereof, whereby the record-carrying table when not in use may be concealed from view within the piano and the latter have the appearance and function of an ordinaryupwv right piano. To this end, the front wall of the casing above the keyboard-is provided with an opening of sufiicient size to enable a portion of the recordcarrying table to be projected through the same when the soundreproducing instrument is to be used, and the record-carrying table is mounted on a support, which is pivoted so as to permit the said table to be moved bodily and turned into a substantially horizontal position when in use and into a substantially vertical position when not in use, and the tone arm which cooperateswith said record-carrying table is m W t i h pian as n so s to enable the tone arm, to. be moved into and out of the path of bodily movement of the record-carrying table.

The piano may be a player piano, orone which is manipulated by hand.

.These and other features of this invention will be pointed out in the claims at the end offthis specification.

ig re l is a r nt at on f a upright piano provided with a sound-reproducing instrument in accordance with this invention.

Fig. 2, a side elevation and section of the piano shown in Fig. 1, the section being taken on the line 2-2, Fig. 1, with the sound-reproducinginstrument in its operative position,

Fig. 3, an enlarged detail in plan of the sound 1' reproducing instrument shown in Fig. 2, with parts broken away,

Fig. 4;, a front elevation ofthe sound-reproducing instrument shown in Fig. 2, and

Fig. 5;, a detail in section on the line 55, Fig.4, to be referred to.

Referring to the drawings, a represents an upright piano which may be of any suitable or well-known construction, such as now commonly in use, either a player piano or a hand-operated one.

The piano a is provided with-a wooden or non-metallic casing b, which in accordance with the present invention has located within it a sound reproducing instrument, which may be of any wellknewn construction provided with a record or sound producing member a, usually in the form of a disk as herein shown, with which cooperates a needle or stylus (Z carried by a tone arm, horn or sound delivering device 6, which is mounted Within the casing-b so as to have its. outlet mouth opposed and preferably in substantially close proximity to, the casing 6, whereby the latter constitutes a' soundingboard oflarge area for the sound-reproducing instrument.

- The record or sound-reproducing member 0 is carried by a revolving table 10 mounted on a shaft 12 to turn therewith, and said shaft is mounted in a suitable base or support 13, which in the present instance is shown as capable of being turned from a substantially vertical position shown in Fig. 1 into a substantially horizontal position shown in Figs. 2, 3, and fl, and also capable ofbeing moved longitudinally, for a purpose as will be described.

The base or support 13 herein shown is provided at its ends with pivot pins 14, which are mounted to turn in side uprights or bars 15 forming part of a stationary frame within the casing 12.

The stationary frame referred to may be of any suitable construction and is herelnshown asconsisting of the upright bars 15, end bars 16 supported upon the upright bars 15, and a rear cross bar 17, which latter rests upon screws or'bolts 18 extended from the stationary vertical board 19 within the casing b.

The base or support 13 is pivotally mounted so that it can be turned into a substantially vertical position and be located entirely within the casing b when not in use, and when it is desired to use the same, the said base or support can be turned into a substantially horizontal position and pro jects through an opening 20 in the front wall 21 of the casing b, which opening may and preferably will be normally closed by one or more panels 22, which are arranged to be slid in opposite directions to uncover the said opening, when it is desired to use the sound-reproducing instrument.

Provision is made for moving the tone arm 6 from its inoperative position represented by dotted lines in Fig. 1, into its operative position represented in Figs. 2, 3 and 4, and to this end, the tone arm is pivotally mounted within the casing b, which may be effected as herein shown by providing the tone arm 6 with a pivot rod 23 having at its lower end a ball 24, which is frictionally secured by the clamping bar 25 to a bearing block 26 secured to a shelf 27 forming part of the stationary frame.

The tone arm 6 is arranged within the casing 72 so that its outlet mouth is opposed to a part of the casing 72, and in the present instance, the mouth of the tone arm is shown as opposed to the cover 29 of the casing and in substantially close proximity thereto (see Fig. 2), whereby the casing of the piano acts as a sounding board for the sound-reproducing instrument.

The record carrying table 10 may be revolved by any suitable motor, such as now commonly used in instruments of this character, and in the present instance I have represented the table 10 as frictionally driven by an electric motor 30 mounted on a shelf 31 forming part of the stationary frame referred to, said motor having its armature shaft 32 provided with a friction wheel 33 which engages the circumference of the table 10, as represented in Figs. 3 and 4, when the table is in its horizontal or operative position, but from which said table is disengaged by movement of the table and its support or base 13 longitudinally in the direction of the arrow 35, Fig. 5, which movement brings the base and record-carrying table into a position in which it free to be turned into a substantially vertical position when not in use. The speed at which the table 10 is revolved may be regulatedby a governor 36 (see Fig. 4), which has its shaft 37 provided with a worm 38, which meshes with a worm gear 39 fast on the shaft 12, the governor, its shaft 37, worm 38 and worm gear 39 being carried by the base or support 13.

The electric motor 30 is supplied with current from a suitable source in any suitable'orknown manner and may be controlled by a suitable switch from outside the piano.

While it may be preferred to employ the electric motor for revolving the table 10 and the record a thereon, it is not desired to limit the invention in this respect, as the record table 10 may be revolved by a spring motor as now commonly practised'in some instruments of this character, in which the spring motor is wound up by hand, or any other form of motor suitable for the purpose may be employed.

By'reference to Fig. 1, it will be observed that the sound-reproducing instrument may be concealed from view when not in use, by the panels 22 which are closed, and that the piano has the appearance and functions of an ordinary piano.

When it-is desired to use the sound reproducing instrument, the panels 22 are slid back'so as to uncover the opening 20 in the front wall of the casing b, the support or base 13 is given a quarter turn up wardly from its vertical position indicated by dotted lines in Fig. '1 into its horizontal position shown inFig. 2, the record c is placed on the table 10, the support 13 is then moved bodily in the direction opposite to that indicated by arrow 35, Fig. 5 to engage the table with the friction wheel 33, and the tone arm e is moved from its inoperative position shown in Fig. 1 into its operativeposition shown in Figs. 2, 3 and 4.

The motor 30 is then started and the sound reproduced is thrown by the tone arm e against the casing b, which acts as a sounding board of extensive area, with the result that a superior tone effect free from harsh or metallic sounds is produced.

When one record has been played, the operator swings the tone arm out of the path of bodily movement of the record table and into the position indicated by dot ted lines, Fig. 1, stops the motor, removes the record and places a new record on the table, after which he swings the tone arm over upon the new record and starts the motor. When the operator has finished playing the records, he stops the motor, swings the tone arm to one side, removes the record, then moves the record table and its support so as to clear the motor and turns the said support on its pivot a quarter turn downwardly and brings the said support and table into a vertical position within the piano casing, after which the panels are closed and the piano has the appearance and function of an ordinary piano asindicated in Fig. 1.

When the record table is turned from its horizontal position into its vertical position, the front portion of said table moves in the opening in the wall of the piano casing, which enables a record table of maximum size to be located in an upright piano casing having a space or chamber of a width less than the diameter of the record-carrying table.

I have herein shown one construction of sound-reproducing instrument but it is not desired to limit the invention to the particular construction shown.

It will be observed that the casing 12 for the piano also constitutes the casing for the sound-reproducing instrument.

Claims:

1. The combination with an upright piano having a casing provided with an opening in its front wall and with means for covering and uncovering said opening, a support or base for a record-carrying table pivoted within the said casing to be turned into a substantially vertical position substantially parallel with said opening and into a substantially horizontal position at an angle to said opening, said record-carrying table being movable with said support, a motor located in said casing for rotating said record-carrying table, and a tone-arm pivoted within said casing and movable over said table when the latter is in its horizontal position.

2. The combination with an upright piano having a casing provided with an opening in one of its walls, a support or base for a record-carrying table pivoted within said casing to be turned from a substantially vertical positioninto a substantially horizontal position and arranged with relation to said opening to enable a portion of the recordcarrying table carried by said support to move through said opening when said support is turned, a motor for rotating said record-carrying table, and a tone arm pivoted within the casing out of the path of movement of the record-carrying table and having its free end movable into and out of the path of movement of said recordcarrying table and over the latter when the record-carrying table is in its horizontal position.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification.

ELZEAR PLANTE.

Gopies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the "Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. 0. 

